vantageous to keep to the actual yield of 10 kilog., and thus he limits it. A sum of 0 fr. 30 for each ton of beetroot is paid by the manufacturer as a compensation for the expense of the excisemen on duty in his premises.

For the year 1899, the quantity of sugar which thus benefited by the reduced tariff, was 249,644,526 kilog., being 28.72 per cent. of the total quantity manufactured. The total allowance of the "boni" (premium) at the rate of 30 francs for every 100 kilog. of sugar under reduced taxation, amounted to 74,893,358 fr., i.e., 8 fr. 62 for every 100 kilog. of refined sugar produced (including the 14 per cent. of sugar contained by the molasses sent to the distillers, to agriculturists, or sent abroad).

III.
Colonial Sugars.

ON Colonial sugar, the law of 1884, accorded, as rebate, a fixed percentage of waste (déchet) of 12 per cent., and afterwards of 24 per cent. The law of July 13th, 1886, enacted a different system: sugar produced in the French colonies and exported home is allowed a fixed percentage of waste (déchet) equal to the average surplus of yield obtained in the previous year, 1st September--31st Aug., by the beetroot sugar manufacturers. The French Government calculates and fixes accordingly for every terminated season, the premium to be given to the native industry. According to official calculation the average boni in 1897-98, was 8 fr. 40 per 100 kilog., in 1898-99 it was 8 fr. 79, and 8 fr. 62 in 1899-1900.

According to the law of January 11th, 1892, dealing with the customs tariff, raw and refined sugar exported from the colonies to France is exempted from all surtax, but candy sugar pays a surtax of 4 fr. 20. French molasses for distilling purposes are entirely free from duties, but molasses used for all other purposes are taxed at the same rate as foreign molasses.

IV.

Net Cost of Sugar at the Factory.

THE following calculation shows the net cost of sugar obtained from 1,000 kilog. of beetroot, and the profit made by the manufacturer, the price of the ton of beetroot being 23 fr.: base 7 per cent. density, settlement at 7°5, the price 88% sold at to-day's rate (March 23rd, 1901), at 23 fr. for 100 kilog. at the factory.

For a yield of 11 of refined sugar equal to 12% raw polarising 95° at 23 fr. per 88° at the factory

27 60

The net profit to the manufacturer amounts therefore to 3 fr. 20 for every ton of beetroot treated.

ས.

How the Manufacturer obtains his Premium (boni).

THE method by which a manufacturer obtains his premium is one of the things which remain a mystery for those uninitiated in the sugar question. It has varied a good deal, but at the present moment it is regulated by the decree of August 12th, 1899.

If the manufacturer sells for home consumption, he pays the duty himself, but, of course, after the premium he obtained has been deducted.

This, however, is the exception. Usually he sends his sugar to a bonded warehouse without paying the duty, but under the cover of a permit, or to the refiner who pays the duty or signs a declaration of temporary admission if he intends to export the sugar after it has been refined.

Native sugar, coming from the manufacturer under the system of deferred payment of duty, and with detailed accounts of either surplus yield or waste in the manufacture, receives a certificate (certificat d'enlèvement) stating the right to the application of the reduced tariff.

From this moment these sugars are assimilated to sugar dutiable under the normal tariff, they circulate under the warranty of the same permits, and are warehoused or bonded under the same conditions. The certificate, made out in the name of the manufacturer by a Government employé at the factory which forwards or ships, is written on a special check register, on the counterfoil of which is given, for the sake of control, the

manufacturer's name, a definition of the kind of sugar referred to, whence it comes, and the bulk of refined sugar it represents.

These certificates are transferable by the medium of endorsement. They are delivered as soon as the duty accounts have been paid, either at the removal from the factory or the warehouse, or whilst being transported, or when the time of temporary admission expires. The presentation of these certificates assures the benefits of the reduced tariff on native or French-colonial sugar to which they are applicable.

The delivery certificate may be sold by the manufacturer. As a rule he sells it to a refiner. If this delivery certificate has been given for the surplus in the yield between 7 kilog. and 10 kilog., the bearer has only to pay 30 fr. instead of 60 fr. duty; and thus he discharges sugar of any description, for there is nothing to distinguish surplus sugar-if we may call it so—from sugar which has to pay the full duty of 60 fr. In short, the manufacturer obtains his premium when ceding his delivery certificates. It is the refiner who, in buying them, pays to the manufacturer nearly the whole amount due to him, and he, the refiner, is repaid by the consumer, or has the duty cancelled in case he sends his goods abroad.

It will no doubt be said that the refiners take advantage of manufacturers in buying their delivery certificates at a price which is much inferior to the normal value which the law assigns to them. They who maintain this are in the wrong. The price of these certificates does not vary; they are bought by refiners at 29 fr. 40, which shows a difference of 0 fr. 60 only. But these delivery certificates are mainly issued from the 1st of October to the 31st of December, or to the 10th of January, the 20th of November being thus the average date of issue. But refiners who buy them cannot make use of them at once, they keep them in their safes to be used sometime during the season. On an average, therefore, they are kept in the safe drawers during four months. The interest to

be computed on that advance may be taken at 4 per cent. a year. The exact value of these delivery certificates may be thus arrived at:

Thus the profit made by refiners in buying the delivery certificates is less than 0 fr. 20 for every 30 fr., i.e., 0 fr. 65 per cent.

It cannot, therefore, be said that delivery certificates are bought on the cheap by refiners, or that manufacturers are taken advantage of by them, as is freely argued by people who are careful not to state precisely how this could be done.

VI.

Premiums granted on Production and not on
Exportation.

SUCH, then, is the system of premiums to the producers as it is organized in France. But on sugar for export the amount remitted never exceeds the amount of duty for which it was originally liable. Therefore, if subjected to the full duty, nothing is remitted; 30 fr. if free from half the duty, 60 fr. if entirely free. The system can be more easily understood to-day now that premiums (boni) to the manufacturer are represented by indepen